CHOCOLATE HILLS | DENR says viral Chocolate Hills resort has no ECC, orders temporary closure

March 13, 2024 , 05:24 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(March 13, 2024) – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday said it has ordered the temporary closure of a resort in the middle of the iconic Chocolate Hills in Bohol after a video of the resort went viral on social media.

In a statement, the DENR said it had shut down the operations of Captain’s Peak Resort and issued a notice of violation after the resort was found to be operating without an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

“As of March 13, 2024, the Regional Executive Director Paquito D. Melicor issued a Memorandum directing PENRO (Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office) Bohol Ariel Rica to create a team to conduct inspection at Captain’s Peak for its compliance with the Temporary Closure Order,” the department said.

The department assured that its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) will continue to monitor the issue.

A viral video showing a resort in the middle of the world-famous Chocolate Hills drew flak on social media, with some netizens calling it an “eyesore.”

A popular tourist attraction of more than 1,700 mounds that turn into its iconic brown color during dry season, the Chocolate Hills was declared a national geological monument in 1988 and is included among the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.

The hills were declared a protected area in 1997 under the late former president Fidel Ramos’ Proclamation No. 1037, and later under the 2018 Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act.

But many parts of the natural landscape were titled to private individuals before the declaration, The Freeman reported last year.

The DENR explained that the declaration of the hills as a protected area imposed certain land use restrictions and regulations even on privately-owned lands.

May paglabag aniya ang pagpapatayo ng resort na nasa gitna ng Chocolate Hills sa Carmen, Bohol, ayon sa Environment Committee Chairman ng Bohol na si Jamie Villamor sa kanyang panayam sa #OneBalitaPilipinas ng One PH. #News5 pic.twitter.com/Q60CO3rclt

— News5 (@News5PH) March 13, 2024

Bohol Board Member Jamie Villamor, in an interview with CignalTV’s One PH channel’s program “One Balita Pilipinas, said the provincial government has appealed to the DENR to amend its guidelines to strengthen the protection in place for the Chocolate Hills.

“We sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan, and also the Province of Bohol, directive ni Governor Aris Aumentado, that we should protect our heritage, the Chocolate Hills. So we asked the PAMB (Protected Area Management Board), the DENR, to revise their guidelines na hindi na po i-allow yung mga construction or any development,” she said.

For her part, Senator Nancy Binay said she was angered by the “defacing” of the Chocolate Hills and demanded environmental officials and local government units to explain why the construction of the resort happened despite its protected status.

“We understand the importance of development, but there should be boundaries,” Binay said in a statement.

(MM)

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